Widdecombe's successor is chosen

Businesswoman Helen Grant beat off the other hopefuls

Conservative party members have chosen the parliamentary candidate for Maidstone and the Weald who will succeed Ann Widdecombe.

Miss Widdecombe will stand down from the Kent seat at the next general election after 20 years in the post.

As part of the selection process, nine candidates were grilled by Private Eye editor and Have I Got News For You panellist, Ian Hislop.

Businesswoman Helen Grant beat off competition from the other hopefuls.

She said: "Ann has been a high profile and eminent MP, and she's also a very good person.

"All I can say is I will strive to maintain the integrity that she has given."

She is the owner of Grants Solicitors, a specialist firm focused on dealing with the problems of family breakdown in London, Surrey and Kent.

Ann Widdecombe has represented Maidstone as its MP for 20 years

The mother-of-two is also a member of the Law Society Equality & Diversity Committee.

Miss Widdecombe, 60, announced her decision to step aside last October.

She has become notorious for her tough and hard-hitting political style as an MP.

The Maidstone and The Weald Conservative Association received 98 applications for the position, with 22 candidates selected for interview in December.

They were then cut down to 11 - nine candidates and two reserves - to go forward to Sunday's "Big Event" before the decision was made.

The final choice was made by an executive council composed of councillors and representatives from the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells wards in the constituency.